Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/133

 THE THEATER OF ATHENS Thjs theater was the center of the growth and development of Greek drama, which began as a part of the celebration of the spring feast of Dionysus, god of the vine and the fruitfulness of the earth. The temple of the god stood here, just at the left. Long before anyone knew of such a thing as a theater, the people gathered at this place to watch the celebration of the god's spring feast, where they formed a circle about the chorus, which narrated in song the stories of the gods. This circle (called the orchestra) was finally marked out permanently, seats of wood for the spectators were erected in a semi- circle on one side, but the singing and action all took place in the circle on the level of the ground. On the side opposite the public was a booth, or tent (Greek, skene, "scene"), for the actors, and out of this finally developed the stage. Here we see the circle, or orchestra, with the stage cutting off the back part of the circle. The seats are of stone and accommodated possibly seventeen thousand people. The fine marble seats in the front row were reserved for the leading men of Athens. The old wooden seats were still in use in the days when /Eschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides presented their dramas here. From the seats the citizens had a grand view of the sea and the island of /Egina, for orchestra and seats continued roofless, and a Greek theater was always open to the sky